Time sender



T. A. M CANN Dec. 26, 1933.

TIME SENDER Filed Oct. 20, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet SUB. STA T/ON INVENTOR 7.A. M CANN ATTORNEY Dem 26, 1.933.

T. A. MCCANN 1,940,764

TIME SENDER Filed Oct. 20, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet Z 300 FIG. 2 B

TERMINA L REPEA TER INVENTOR T A. M CA NN A TTORNEV Patented Dec. 26,1933 UNlTED STATES rrrnazu'r OFFICE- .TIME SENDER Application October20, 1932., Serial No. 638,806

11 Claims. (01. 17s-2)' Thisinvention relates to a system for automatically transmitting time-of day information and more particularly to-asystem fortransmitting such information from a printing telegraphcentral exchange to the-subscribers printer stations. An object of theinvention is the'efiicient and accurate transmission of such informationfrom the central exchange to such of the individual stations as desiretheinformation.

According to a feature of the invention the time Sending unit isautomatically maintained'in such condition at all times that it iscapable'of sending out the correct time information.

According to another feature of the invention selecting means areprovided whereby a plurality of individual printerstations may be servedby one time-sending unit. This is an especially valuable feature as itsprovision results in a saving of equipment and space and thereforelessens the expense of the service.

Other important objects and valuable features contributing towardtheattainment thereof will be apparent from the following description ofthe invention.

The important-part played by the modern telephone exchange system in ourdaily lives is, of course, well understood and it is known that eachsubscriber may secure a connection with another subscriber'by signalingthe exchange operator and verbally giving her the code. number of-thedesired party. Other-valuable services besides the. completion ofconnections between subscribers for conversational purposes are alsoren- 'dered by. the telephone exchange system. One

p'articularlyvaluable servicejis that known'a's tinie-of-day service.Facilities are provided-in some of the larger communities whereby a telephone subscriber may, by calling a designated code number, be informedof the correct time.

.There have recently. been developed printing telegraph "exchangesystems which extend to printing telegraph subscribers the same serviceas is extended to telephone subscribers by the telephone exchangesystem. That is, each telegraph subscriber may secure a connection withanother telegraph subscriber by signaling the telegraph exchangeoperator and informing her concerning the identity of the desired party.The printing telegraph exchange system referred to differs, however,from the telephone system in that all communications are by printingtelegraphy and this includes the transmittal by the calling subscriberto the central operator of the number of the desired party as Well-asany acknowledgements,instructions or other information which theoperator may wish to transmit to either calling or called subscriber.For a complete'description of such a printing telegraph exchange systemreference may be made to'the copending application of George A. Lockeand Fullerton S. Kinkead, Serial No. 459,684,.filed June 7, 1930.

It is anticipated that as printing telegraph exchange systemscome intomore generaluse there will be an increasing demand on the part of thesubscribers for special services and as stated above it is a broadobject of this invention to provide one such service, that is,time-of-day service. The invention in its broad aspect contemplates theprovision at the central exchange of a timesending unit capable of beingconnected by virt'ue of aselectingcircuit, to any one of a plurality ofprinterstations which may express a desire by means, forexample, ofdepressing a key, to have the time-of-dayinformation transmittedthereto. 4 r I The time sending unit includes four automatic tapecontrolledtelegraph transmitters for transmitting' code signals forprinting, respectively, minutes, tens of minutes, hours and twelves ofhours. The controlling tapes of the transmitters are'periodicallychanged by means of a clock actuated'advancing mechanism whereby'thecorrect timefiinformation is automatically stored at all times inthe-sending unit. A distributor arrangement is provided whereby theinformation stored in the. various transmitters is automaticallytransmitted into the line in the proper sequence and with the requiredseparations in order that the information will be properly recorded atthe station to show the time-of-day in hours and minutes. 1 a g Acomplete understanding of the invention and its possibleapplications maybe obtained from a consideration of the following description inconnection with the appended drawings inwhich: Figure 1 shows a timesending system for transmitting time-of-day information toa subscribersstation,

Fig. 2 shows a selective circuit whereby the time sender of Fig. 1 mayserve a plurality of subscribers stations and v Fig. 3 shows amodification of a portion of the selective circuit of Fig. 2. 1

Referring now to Fig. 1 of the drawings, a brief description of theapparatus represented will first begiven after which the operation ofthe arrangement in actual transmission of time of day information willbe described in detail.

Four, automatic tape controlled telegraph transmitters 1, 2, 3 and 4 areshown which may be of the type described in G. R. Benjamin Patent1,298,440, issued March 1919. As this type of transmitter is well knownin the art it will not be described in detail. It might be stated,however, that each transmitter is provided with five contacting elementswhich are traversed by-a controlling tape so punched as to allow certainof the elements to contact with a second common element thus completinga circuit through a battery provided in the line loop while other of theelements are prevented by the tape from contacting with the secondelement and the circuit through the line battery is not completed. Thusby the use of 'tapes properly punched the transmitters originaterespectively periods of current and periods of no current in the lineloop as desired. Tape advancing magnets (51 to 54 inclusive) areincluded in the transmitters.

The controlling tape of transmitter 1 is so punched that the transmitterwill send out code impulses corresponding to either one of the digits 0or 1 according to the position of the tape. The tape of transmitter 2isso punched that this transmitter will send code impulses correspondingto adigit in the group 0, 1, 2, 1, 2, n 4, n, 7: n, depending p theposition of the tape, the tape of transmitter 3 is punched to controlthe sending of code impulses corresponding to a digit inthe group 0 to 5inclusive and the tape of transmitter 4 is so punched that code signalscorresponding to a digit of the group 0 to 9 inclusive are sent out. Theoperation of these transmitters will be better understood afterconsidering the description' of an actual transmission of timeinformation which is to be given subsequently but it might be herestated that they operate to send out, over the line leading to thesubscribers station, impulses which cause the printer apparatus thereprovided to operate to type the time of day in hours and minutes, forexample, 0-2-2-6 if the time be twenty-six minutes after two. In thisinstance transmitter 1 would send out impulses corresponding to 0,,transmitter 2 would send impulses corresponding to 2, transmitter 3would send impulses corresponding to 2 and transmitter 4 would sendimpulses corresponding to 6.

In order that the correct time information be stored in thetransmittersl, 2, 3 and 4, it is, of course, necessary that'thecontrolling tapes be periodically advanced in step with actual timechanges. Segmented wheels 5, 6, 7 and 8 are provided which together withthe driving shaft and ratchet wheel 9 and 10 constitute a mechanismsimilar to the well known counting train used in mileage registers andthe like, an adaption of which is often used as an electric clock forswitchboards as disclosed for example in B. F. Merritt Patent 740,889,issued October 6, 1903 or as a service meter as disclosed for example inC. E. Scribner et al. Patent 765,255,

issued July 19, 1904. The wheels in the present instance, however, arenot provided on their surfaces with figures as is done in the case ofregisters of clocks but are provided with alternate conducting andinsulating segments so arranged that the associated brushes 11, 12, 13and 14 rest on insulating segments when thewheels are in normal positionbut contact with a conducting segment each time the associated wheel isstepped forward. Through the operating, once each minute, of contact 16,which is controlled wheel 8 completes one revolution, that is, one

by clock-work mechanism 17, an operating circuit for magnet 15 isnormally completed once each minute and magnet 15 in turn causes thedriving wheel 10 to move one step each minute. As wheel 8 is directlyconnected to shaft 9, this wheel is also moved forward one step eachminute. Wheel '7 is operatively controlled'by wheel 8, in the mannercommonly utilized in counting trains, so that it is driven forward onestep as step for each tenth step of wheel 8. Wheel 6 is in turn socontrolled by wheel 7 that it is driven one step as wheel 7 completesone revolution,

thatis, one step for each sixth step of wheel 7.

Wheel 5 is advanced two steps during a revolution of wheel 6, one stepoccurring after the first three steps of wheel 5 and the second stepoccurring after the next nine steps of the wheel, that is, at thecompletion of a revolution.

Ground 18 is connected to the conducting segments of each wheel throughthe shaft 9 so'that each time one of the brushes 11,12, 13 or 14contactswith a conducting segment of the associated wheel, a circuitwill be momentarily completed through the winding of the associatedrelay 19, 20, 21.or-22. The operation of one ofthese relays in turncompletes a circuit through the winding of-the tape advancing magnet ofthe respective transmitter 1, 2, 3 or 4 with which the relayisassociated.

In order that a better understanding may be had of. the method ofkeeping the informationstored in the transmitters .up to date withrespect to actual changes intime it appears desirable to consider a fewexamples. Let us assume therefore that the time of day isfiftyeightminutes after twelve, that is, the tape of transmitter 1' is inPOSitlOIltO send'out impulses corresponding to 1, that of transmitter 2to send out 2, transmitter 3 to send 5 and ransmitter 4 to send 8. Nowat theend of the minute period, the operating circuit ofrelay 15 ismomentarily completed (controlled by contact 16 over circuit to besubsequently described in detail) and shaft 9 and wheel 8, directlyconnected thereto, are moved one step. As wheel 8 is moved one stepbrush l4 momentarily contacts with a'conducting segment and". relay 22is momentarily operated. The operation of this relay in turn completes acircuit 5 through tape feed magnet 54 of transmitter ,4 and the tapethereof is advanced one step .into position to send out impulsescorresponding to the next digit, i. e. 9. As wheels 5, =6 and '1 werenot advanced the tapes of transmitters :1, 2 and 3 are in originalposition and the time information now stored is 1'--25'9.' 'At the nextmovement of wheel 8, however, wheels 5, 6 and 7' are also advanced andby means of the resulting operation of the associated relays the tapesof all four transmitters are advanced one step and into such positionthat the digits 0, 1, 0 and 0" will be transmitted. At the end of thenext minute, the digits 0, 1,0 and 1'will be transmitted, at the end ofthe next the digits 0; 1, 0 and 2 and so forth. After 0, 9, 5 and 9 havebeen. transmitted it is necessary, at the endof the next minute period,that is, at ten oclock that the tape of transmitter 1 be advanced inorder that the digit 1 may be transmitted instead of 0 (i. e. 1, O, 0and 0) which makes apparent the reason why wheel 5 must be ad- Vancedtwice during a revolution of wheel 6 instead of only once. '(As pointedout above 159 Mil transmitter 2 controls the sending of-the series .linein, proper sequence and with the necessary separation, a distributormechanism is provided which may be of the so-called start-stop'typedisclosed, for example, in P. M. Rainey Patent 1,311,915, issued August5, 1919.- Thismechanism includes a driving motor 23and a shaft 24 driventhereby. 1 Rotating brush carrier 44 is frictions ally coupled to'shaft24 but is normally held inoperative by latch 43. Upon the energizationof distributor magnet 42, however, latch 43 is with drawn and allowsbrush carrier 44 to rotate carrying with it brushes 37 and 47 whichtraverse their respectively associated sets of commutator rings whichare here shown developed for purposes of illustration. Each set ofcommutator rings includes a common ring (48 and 49 respectively) and asegmented ring.

There are also included in the'equipment'various relays, the functionsof which will be ex- .plained subsequently as well as'a selector switch200 which may be of the type described in O. F.

Forsberget al. Patent 1,472,465, issued October 30, 1923. This selectorswitch includes six banks, (201 to 20 6 inclusive) each provided withsix contacts,'six rotatable brushes (207 to 212 inclusive), oneassociated with each bank, a steppi ng magnet 213 which when energizedservesto rotate the brushe'saround the associated banks and avrestoringmagnet 214which when energized restores the brushes to normal position,i. e. contacting with'the first contact of the associated 'bank.

The time sending equipmentis preferablylocated at a central officeandfor purposes ofillus-' tration isshown connected by lines 119 and 120 toa subscribers station A. The subscriber s station is preferably providedwith printing apparatus for example of the type described in Patent1,745,633 issued February 4, 1930 to S. Morton et al. A time request key30 is also provided at the subscribers station which when actuatedserves to set the time sender equipment into operation.

start segment S of distributor, break contact of relay 38, right makecontact of relay 31, left winding of relay 39, winding of relay 40 toground 41, relays 39 and 40 operating overthis circuit. Relay 39 uponoperation locks up on a circuit traced from battery 36 and brush andsegments previously referred to through the right winding and right makeContact of relay 39 through winding of relay 40' to ground4l. Relay 39therefore remains operated over this locking circuit so long as brush 37ison the start segment.

The distributor magnet 42 is energized upon the operation of relay 39over a circuit traced from battery 45, winding of magnet 42, left makecontact ofrelay 39,'b reak contact of relay 34 to. ground 35. Magnet 42being energized attracts latch'43 thereby releasing brush carrier 44which,

due to its frictional coupling to rotating" shaft 24, rotates carryingbrushes 37 and 47 through 1. one revolution contacting with'theirrespectively i associated commutator rings.

Assuming that the printer provided at substation A is of the typecapable of printing either;

figures or lett'ers,it is desirable that a series of impulses first betransmitted to the printer to&

set its typing'mechanism into position to print figures, such a seriesof impulses being commonly.

termed a figures shift signal. In the case of the five-unit code whichwe are assuming, isbeing. used'in the present system, this signalconsists;

of two intervals of current, one interval of no current and twointervals of current. It will be seen that as brush 47 passes overits'associated.

set of commutator rings such a signal will be sent out over thesubscribersline loop. As brush 47, contacts with segment R1 a circuit iscompleted.

from common ring 49, brush 47, segment Rr-]., brush 211 and firstcontact of selector bank 205, line 120 through printer at station A,battery 59,

line 119,thus completing a circuit through the' line loop battery 59 forone interval of current.

A second interval of current results from a similar circuit as; brush 47contacts withsegment R-2. As the brush contacts with segment Rag-3.,however, an interval ofno current results as brush 209 is normallyassociated with an insulated'contact of switch bank 203 and the circuitis'not completed through the'line loop battery. Two impulses of currentfollow, however, as brush 47 contacts segments R-4 and R-5, the circuitbeing completed through the loop battery in a manner similar tothat'described in connection with segment By this series of impulses theprinter at station A is set into position/to record the time in figuresas the impulses are subsequently received.

As brush 37 contacts with segmentsL and B of, 7

its associateddistributor commutator ring a cir,"

cult is completed from battery'36, common ring 7 lector switch, firstcontact of bank 206, through the winding of selector switch steppingmagnet Let us now assume that subscriber A Wishin selector switchbrushes 207'to212 inclusive for- 48,brush 37, segmentsIL and B, brush212 of seward one step to the next contact of each bank.

Since relay 31, as previously explained,re-'

mains locked up on a circuit from battery 33,

left winding and left make contact of relay 31 to break contact ofrelay-34 and ground 35, re

lay 39 againoperates (brush 37 being in nor'mal position, i. e.contacting with segment S), and in turn causes the energization ofdistributor 'magnet'42 which releases brushes 37 and 47 for a secondrevolution.

47 contacts with segment 13- -1 a circuit is com pleted (or remains opendepending upon the condition of the tape controlled tongue oi" thetransmitter, i. e., whether it is to be a current or no currentinterval) from common ring '49,

of transmitter -1, common return lead58, line brush 47', segment R- l',brush 211 and second; contact of switch bank 205, tape controlled tonguelead 120 through printer at station A and battery 59 back to ring 49through line lead 119.

The other four tape controlled'tongues of transmitter 1 are in turnconnected into the loop 5circuit in a similar manner as brush 4'?contacts with segments R-2, R-3, P,-4 and R-5 in turn 'four'intervals ofcurrent or no current resulting according to the position of thetongues. It will be evident that before the transmission of each set ofimpulses, i. e. when brush 4'7 contacts with segment Pr-'-7, an intervalof no current results and that at the end of the series, i. e. whenbrush 47 contacts with segment R'-5, an interval of current results.'These signal impulses serve respectively to start the selectingmechanism of the printer and to stop it and hence are usually referredto as start and stop signal impulses.

As the brushes complete their second revolution. therefore the firstdigit of the time, i. e., either 0 or 1 depending upon the position ofthe controlling tape of transmitter 1 is typed at station At Also thebrushes 207, 208, 259, 210, 211 and 2120f the select-or switch arestepped forward to. the third contact of their associated banks throughthe circuit previously described, which is completed when brush 3'?contacts with segments L and B. V

As relay 31 remains locked up over the loclo ing circuit previouslydescribed, relay 39 again operates when brush 37 contacts with segment 6(circuit previously described) and magnet i2 is energized to releasebrushes 37 and 47 for a third revolution. As the brushes of the selectorswitch are now in contact with the third contacts of their associatedbanks andas said third contacts are connected with the tongues oftransmitter 2, it will be evident that the signals stored in transmitter2 are sent out over the line during'thethird revolution of brush 47 andthat the second digit of the time information is thereby printed atstation A.

As the continuing operation of the arrangement in transmitting theinformation stored in trans- V .mitters 3 and 4 is the same as describedin connection with transmitters l andZ the detailed description will notbe repeated.

As the fifth revolution of the brushes is com pleted and the timeinformation stored in the ifour transmitters has been transmitted,brushes of selector switch 200 are stepped to the sixth contact of theirrespective banks. lhe sixth contact of bank 208 is connected to returnmagnet 214 the circuit of which is thereby completed from battery 36,common ring 4%, brush 37, segmerits L and B, brush 212, sixth contact ofbank 266 through the winding of restoring magnet 21% and relay 34 toground 35. The energization of restoring magnet 214 causes brushesZOl,293, 209, 210, 211 and 212 to restore to normal position, i. e.contacting with the first contact of their associated banks while theoperation of relay 34 opens the holding circuit of relay 31 whichtherefore restores to normal position.

As stated above a circuit is completed once 'each minute which iseffective to energize magnet 15 which in turn operates pawl 2'7. Thiscircuit is completed as follows: Assuming that contacts 16 aremomentarily closed through the action of clockwork mechanism 17, acircuit is completed from battery 51, contact 16 through the winding ofrelay 62 to ground 63 thereby causing relay 62 to operate. Relay 62 byits operation completes a circuit from battery 64, make contact of relay62, through resistances 65 and 66, break contactof relay 40, through thewinding of relay 38 to ground 6?], thereby causing relay 38 to operate.A circuit is completed by the operation of relay 38 from ground 67,makecontact of relay 38, through the winding of magnet 15 to battery 68and magnet 15 is energized and attracts pawl 2? thereby stepping ratchetwheel 10 forward one step. 7

It is evident of course that the operating circuit of magnet 15 shouldnot be completed during transmission of time signals into the line,

i. e. during the time brush 4'! is traversing segments Pr-1 to R 5 ofthe distributor for the resulting movement of the tapes in thetransmitters would result in errors in transmission. It will beremembered that relay 40 operates as the brushes start their movementand it will be evident that such operation opens the circuit over whichmagnet 15 is energized. Should contact 16 be completed during the timerelay 40 is operated condenser 69 is charged over a circuit from battery(i l, make contact of relay 62, resistance 65, condenser (-39 to ground70. That is to say, the impulse is stored momentarily in the condenser.Now when brushes 3'? and 457 complete their rotation and. relay dropsback to normal position condenser to operate magnet 15.

In the embodiment of the invention discussed Fullerton S. Kinicead,Serial No. 459,684, filed June 7,1930 to provide at the central exchangeoffice several of the time senders each of which will serve a pluralityof subscribers say, for example, nine.

Accordingly there is illustrated in Fig. 2 of the.

annexed drawingsa selective circuit whereby the time sending arrangementdisclosed in Fig. 1

serve a plurality of telegraph exchange subscribers. It will benecessary in the subsequent description of 2 to consider it inconnection with Fig. 1 and whil so doing it should be assurned that theapparatus to the right of the line X-X of 1 has been replaced by Fig.2,the correspondingly numbered leads of the two figures (i. e. 119, 12c,113 and 133) being of course .joined.

contact for each subscriber to be served by, the

time sender. Relays 191 and 122 which are individual to subscribersstation E are shown connected to the second contacts of banks 311 and314 and it will be understood'tha-t similar relays associated with theother stations will be 2 2,465, issued October,

'69 discharges through relay '38 causing to operate and complete acircuit peater there provided to a second subscriber. As

details of the apparatus and circuits utilized in obtaining such aconnection are fully described in the application of Locke and Kinkeadreferred to above they will not be again described herein.

Let it be further assumed that subscriber B wishes to have thetime-of-day recorded'on his printer and therefore operates ftime requestkey 130.

Operation of timerequest? key 130 completes a circuit to operate-relay101,traced from ground 132, make contact of key 130, through the'wind'-' ing of relay 101 and resistance 102 to-ba'ttery 103. Relay 101,upon operation, locks up on a 1 holding circuit iraced from ground 104,bottom inner make contact of relay 101 and through its windingandresistance 102 to battery 103. Relay 7 101 by its operation alsocompletes a circuit from battery 105, resistance 106, lower outer makecontact of relay 101, first contact of bank 315, selector switch brush307, through'the winding of selector stepping magnet 317 to ground 116.Stepping magnet 317 is energized by this circuit and acts to step eachof the selector switch'brushes, 301 to 308 inclusive, forward one stepto the second contacts of their associated banks. As brush 305reachesthe second contactof its bank it acts to short-circuit thestepping magnet and remove the energizing current, the short-circuit-p'ath being to ground 117 reached-through the upper innermake contactofrelay 101; Ground isalso applied to the winding of relay 3'1atthis time,

the circuit being iraced'from ground 117, upper outer make contact ofrelay 101, second contact-- of bank 312, 10111511304; lead- 118 throughthe'right winding of relay 3-1- to battery 33. Itwill be recalled that,with respect to my description of the first embodiment, ground wasapplied to this relay by the operation of'key'30 (Fig.1) and that theresulting energization 'of'relay 31 was instrumental in setting the timesender' into operation to transmit the signals into the line; -.Relay3'1 operates in the same-way andPWith the-same results now uponapplication of ground 117 to the wind- 1 ing as just described and theresulting starting and operation of thetape transmitters and distributors will not be again described;

At this same time, i. e. as theselector brushesare stepped to the secondcontactsof their associated banks the time sender loop leads 119 and 120are connected through' to the subscribers set by the operation ofrela'yf 1 22 on a circuit traced from ground 117, upper out'ermakecontact ofrelay 101, brush 303, second'contact of bank 311, through thewinding of relay 122 and resistance 123 to battery 124. Operation'ofrelay 122 removes the short-circuiting loop 125 from its make contactsand substitutes loop leads 119' and 120.

The time sender having been started as previously stated (by operationof relay 31) the time signals are'transmitted into thesubscribers loopand recorded on his printer. r v

Upon completion of the time information transmission, relay 34 operatesas previously described and ground is applied to lead 133 (through makecontact of relay 34) whereupon a short-circuitingpath is presented tobattery 103 and relay 101fther'efore restores to normal. Relay 101 uponrestoring tonormal removes the short-circuiting path from steppingmagnet 317 and an energizing circuitfor the latter-is now completed,traced from battery 134, break contact of relay 136, strappedcontacts'of bank 315, brush 307, through the winding'of magnet 317 togroundllfi.

' 'N ow it will be understood that if, duringtransmission of timesignals to subscriber B, a second subscriber, forexample, subscriber 0associated witli the third contacts of the various selector banks,operated his time request key, his associated control relay(corresponding to relay 10l) would operate and apply ground to the thirdcontact of bank 313. The relay would remain operand on a locking circuitsimilar to that'of relay 101 previously described. 0

Now as the brushes arestepped forward (step ping magnet 317 beingenergized as just described) ground will be found on the third contactof bank 312 and the arrangement will again function to send the timeinformation to'station C. V

It will be evident, of course,'that the loop circuit of subscriber B isno longer associated with the time sender as brushes 301, 302 and 303 nolonger contact with the second contacts of the associated banks.

has been completed and that no other subscriber has operated his timerequest key the brushes of the selector switches" will continue steppinguntil the final contacts of the associated banks have been reached. Acircuit is then completed from ground 138 through the windings ofselector return magnet 318 and slow-to-release relay 136,

tenth contact of bank 316, brush 308, resistance 139 to battery 140. Byvirtue of this circuit,'magnet 318 operates to restore the selectorbrushes 301to 308 inclusive to normal position and slowrelease relay 136operates and holds the energizing circuit of stepping magnet 317 openwhile brush 307 is being returned to its normal position. Thearrangement is now restored to normal position to await subsequentoperation by a subscriber of his time request key.

, It will be apparent that during transmission of 7 time information tostation 13 as described above (or to the other subscribers stationsassociated with the selector banks) the information will be' transmittedalso to any other stations-which hape pen to be connected to theterminal repeater. In cases Whereit is wished that such information betransmitted'onlyto the station requesting it, the' 1 circuit of relay122 may be modified asshown in.

'Fig. 3.

In accordance with this modification as relay 1'22 operates and connectsthe line leads 119 and 120 through to the substation, the terminalrepeater istemporarily disconnected from the substation circuit andresistance 69 is connected to theterminal repeater leads. a

While certain particular 'embodiments of the invention have beendescribed in detailabove" these, and only these have "been selectedfordescription as it is believed that a full understand ing'of theinvention may begained from .a consideration of them. The invention isnot limited however, to such embodiments as specifically de scribed butis intendedto be limited only as indicated by the claims attachedhereto. 7

Whatis claimed is; r

1.An information transmitting system comprising a central oillce and aplurality of'indi- Assuming now that transmission to station '0' vidualstations, an information sending unit at the central office includingmeans for storing the information, means for automatically changing theinformation stored, selective means for connecting the sending unit toone of the stations, and means for transmitting the stored informationin proper sequence and with proper separation and means at the stationsfor controlling the 1 starting of the selective and transmitting meansand printers at the stations for recording the information transmitted.

2. A time-of-day transmitting system comprising a central oflice and aplurality of individual stations, lines for connecting the stations tothe central office, a time-sending unit at the central office includingmeans for storing the time information, means for automatically changingthe stored information in accordance with changes in time, means fortransmitting the stored information in proper sequence and with properseparation, means at the individual stations for controlling thestarting of the transmitting means and printers at the stations forrecording the information transmitted. 25

tions for controlling the starting of the trans-.

mitting and selective means and printers at the .stations for recordingthe information trans 'mitted.

4. In a time-sending system, a time-transmitting unit including anautomatic tape controlled impulse transmitter and automatic means forchanging the position of the controlling tape in accordance with changesin time, a timereceiving unit including a printer for recording inaccordance With the impulses transmitted by the transmitting unit, and aline for connecting the transmitting and receiving unit. 50'" 5. In atime-sending system, a time-transmitting unit including an automatictape controlled impulse transmitter and automatic means for changing theposition of the controlling tape in accordance with changes in time, atime receiv- "ing unit including a printer for recording in accordanceWith the impulses transmitted by the transmitting unit and means forsetting the transmitting unit into operation, and a line forconnectingthe transmitting and receiving unit.

, 6. In a time-sending system, a time-transmitting unit including aplurality of automatic tape controlled impulse transmitters and meansfor changing the position of the controlling tapes in accordance withchanges in time, a time receiving unit, a line for connecting thetransmitting unit and the receiving unit, and means for rendering eachof the impulse transmitters effective in turn to transmit impulses overthe line to the receiving unit, said receiving unit including a printerfor recording in accordance with the impulses transmitted.

7. In a time-sending system, a time-transmitting unit including aplurality of automatic tape controlled impulse transmitters and meansfor changing the position of the controlling tapes in accordance withchanges in time, a plurality of time-receiving units, a line, selectivemeans whereby any one of the receiving units maybe connected over theline to the transmitting unit, and means for rendering each of theimpulse transmitters effective in turn to transmit impulses over theline to the receiving unit, said time-receiving units including printersfor recording in accordance with the impulses transmitted.

8. In a telegraph exchange system comprising a central office, asubscribers telegraph printer station, a line for the subscribersstation terminating at the central office, a plurality of othersubscribers stations, lines for the other stations also terminating atthe central office and an interconnecting circuit for interchangeablyconnecting the subscribers station line with certain of the other lines,a time-sending unit at the central oflice whereby time-of-dayinformation may be transmitted to the subscribers stations and means atthe subscribers station for recording the time information.

9. In a telegraph exchange system comprising a central ofiice, asubscribers telegraph printer station, a line for the subscribersstation terminating at the central office, a plurality of othersubscribers stations, lines for the other stations alsoterminatingat thecentral ofiice and an interconnecting circuit for interchangeablyconnecting the subscribers station line with certain of the lines, atime-sending unit at the central oiiice whereby time-of-dayinformationmaybe transmitted to the subscribersstations, the timesendingunit including an automatic tape controlled transmitter and automaticmeans for changing the position of the tape in accordance with changesintime and means at the subscribers stations .-for recording the timeinformation.

10. In a telegraph exchange system comprising a central office, asubscribers telegraph printer station, a line for the subscribersstation terminating at the central office, a plurality of othersubscribers stations, lines for the other stations also terminating atthe central office and an in- 1 terconnecting circuit forinterchangeably con necting the subscribers station line with certain ofthe other lines, a time-sending unit at the cen- 1 tral office andselective means whereby the timesending unit may be connected to any oneof the subscribersfistation lines'to transmit time-of-day informationthereover and means at the subscribers stations for recording the timeinformation.

11. In a telegraph exchange system comprising a central oiiice, asubscribers telegraph printer station, a line for the subscribersstation terminating at the central oificaa plurality of othersubscribers? stations, lines for the other stations also terminating atthe central office and an in-r terconnecting circuit "forinterchangeably con necting the subscribers station line withcertain ofthe otherlines, a time-sending unit at the central oflice including aplurality of automatic tape controlled impulse transmitters, means forchanging the positions of the controlling tapes in accordance withchanges in time, selective means whereby the sending unit may beconnectedto any one of the station lines and means whereby each of theimpulse transmitters is rendered effective in turn to send impulses overthe 0on nected station line.

THOMAS A. McCANN.

